BASSETERRE St. Kitts, December 5th, 2012 -- The Democrat newspaper has until sometime in March of 2013 to submit how much it feels it should pay the Right Honourable Prime Minister for defaming his character in an October 29 2011 article entitled, “Culture of Murder”. This was the direction given by the High Court on Wednesday when lawyers for both parties convened at the Court’s Chambers to receive directions.
Lawyers for the Right Honourable Prime Minister will have until sometime in February to indicate how much by law the Right Honourable Prime Minister is entitled to. If there is no agreement on the amount among the parties, the Court will make a determination on a date to be set by the Registrar.
The article in question, “appeared to be alleging, among other things that Prime Minister Douglas murdered or caused the murder of Noel “Zambo” Heath and others,” citing from the documents filed with the Court in this matter.
Default Judgment
On March 28, 2012, a default judgment (in claim number SKBHCV2012/0076) was ordered against The Democrat newspaper for defaming the character of the Right Honourable Prime Minister and Political Leader of the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party. There was no defence filed within the time frame stipulated however Mr. Lindsay Grant, immediate past political leader of the Party that owns The Democrat, a lawyer, filed a defence for The Democrat after the judgment was handed down; defence that was later determined not to be known by the law.
No Appeal Filed
Following the default judgment against The Democrat, The Democrat did not seek through its lawyers, for leave to appeal the default judgment. Further, the allowed period of time to file an appeal also elapsed without any filings. The Democrat did not appeal the default judgment and it no longer has an opportunity to appeal; that time has now passed.
The Democrat Applied to Void the Default Judgment
On August 24, 2012, Master in the High Court (as she was then; now High Court Judge), Pearletta Lanns, denied an application filed by The Democrat to set aside default judgment against it and ordered The Democrat to pay $1,000 in legal costs related to that application. Master Lanns further ordered that case management and/or possible direction on assessment of damages would take place during the week of November 5, 2012 but that only took place on December 5th.
Master Lanns also ordered that lawyers for The Democrat, “take immediate steps to cure the defects in relation to the filing of the affidavit of Mr. Gene Howell,” in accordance with her observations outlined. Gene Howell was the general manager at The Democrat at the time of the publication of the article. Those observations included that Gene Howell, “the General Manager of The Democrat, swore to an affidavit…before to Mr. Jonel Powell,” and that that was, “in breach of CPR 30.5 (the rules of the Court)”.
Howell swore to an affidavit before attorney Jonel Powell who in turn represented The Democrat in the lawsuit. The rules prohibit such conduct and attorney Sylvester Anthony for Prime Minister Douglas objected to the admissibility of Mr. Howell’s affidavit on the basis that the rules prohibit such administration. “Mr. Powell did not offer any comment or response on this objection,” cited Master Lanns.
While the Master did admit the affidavit of Mr. Howell, the Master commented, “that there is no date stamp affixed to the affidavit and the filing date is not stated. Additionally, there is no evidence that the filing fee for the affidavit has been paid. No stamps are affixed to the affidavit. Rule 3.7 which concerns filing of documents provide that if a filing fee is to be paid, a document is not to be treated as filed until the fee is paid; or an undertaking to pay the fee acceptable to the Registrar is received.”
Internal Fall-out
It is not known whether there has been internal fall-out over this case but what is factual is that the management at The Democrat has changed. Mr. Gene Howell has been replaced with Mr. Eugene Hamilton of the infamous British American Insurance Company. Additionally, this lawsuit is not the first, second, or third in which The Democrat has been ordered to pay damages for slandering Ministers of the present Labour Party Government. So it was therefore not surprising that according to Hamilton, “the regular Solicitors of The Democrat,” who he said were, “unable to take the matter”.
The legal representation that in the end acted for The Democrat comprised of Jonel Powell, the Deputy Chairman of the Political Party that owns The Democrat. Powell’s senior partner is Lindsay Grant, the immediate past leader of the Party that owns the newspaper.
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